Carolina Timberworks: Timber Framing Nashville

Did you know North Carolina-based Carolina Timberworks has ties to Nashville? Gesche Morley’s (co-owner of Carolina Timberworks) son, Paul Defiglia, is an accomplished performer, producer, and engineer based in Nashville.

Our Favorite Design Concepts: Timber Frame Nashville

Timber framing in Nashville first within its unique culture. Large outdoor timber frame pavilions are ideal for celebrating the acoustics of Music City, while timber frame sheds and lookout towers are perfect for building out your family’s farm. Whether you’re thinking large or small, you can invest in a variety of projects to add value and beauty to your Nashville property.

If you raise horses, building a timber frame barn is a great way to shelter your team in a majestic space.  Whether you’d rather retrofit an antique barn or build the next largest horse barn in the U.S., our team has the necessary experience to raise this type of timber frame in your neck of the woods.

Have a tour bus for your band or a class A motorcoach? Store your oversized vehicles in style and keep them safe and sound while they’re off the road.

Who doesn’t love good BBQ? Nashville’s legendary dry and wet pork ribs and all-day brisket deserve to be smoked in a place worthy of their majesty. A timber frame BBQ shed adds another layer of flavor, if you will, to any party where meat is on the menu.

Do you love spending a lazy Saturday at the lake house with family and friends? Why not upgrade your dock to a beautiful boat house, complete with a sun porch for lounging or entertaining? A timber frame boat house is the perfect complement to the water’s natural beauty.

Owning land in Nashville is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the area’s natural beauty. Why not add a timber frame porte cochère to your family’s home so visitors can arrive in style?

Want to make better use of your beautiful outdoor space? Build a she shed to store tools and supplies or create a hideaway.

Need a little extra space for less tidy pursuits? Design a multi-purpose outbuilding for your workshop, gardening, or storage. 

Firms That Design With Timber Framing in Nashville

• Jeffrey Dungan Architects
• McAlpine
• MossCreek
• Page Duke Landscape Architects
• Pfeffer Torode
• Summerour Architects

Where Is Nashville?

Nashville is nestled near the center of the state in Davidson County, Tennessee. It’s about 35 miles northwest of Murfreesboro and about 130 miles northwest of Chattanooga. It’s also 180 miles west of Knoxville and 200 miles northeast of Memphis. The greater Nashville area is the home of country music star Amy Grant’s Porters Pavilion – a gorgeous timber frame pavilion for under-served communities built by the Timber Framers Guild.

As you can see, Nashville really is the heart of Tennessee.

People are sometimes surprised to learn that Carolina Timberworks installs its work across the United States.  Our largest job ever was in Nebraska, so Nashville is only a six-hour hop, skip, and jump from our shop.

Communities in Nashville

Nashville is at the center of a diverse set of suburbs. Some of the most notable include Franklin, Whites Creek, East Nashville, Donelson, Hermitage, Hendersonville, and Madison. Many larger suburbs lie beyond Nashville’s city lines, such as Mt. Juliet, Leiper’s Fork, Brentwood, and Bellevue. Brentwood and Bellevue share some micro-suburbs, including Green Hills, Forest Hills, and Antioch.

No matter where you live in the Nashville area, Carolina Timberworks can work with you and the firm of your choice to design, engineer, fabricate, ship, and install the ideal timber frame addition for your property.

Nashville by the Numbers

Elevation	597′
Population (as of 2018)	692,587
Square miles	526
People per square mile	1,427
Acres	337,000
Number of farms	66,000
Median home value	$313,679
Property tax rate (per $100 USD in Davidson County)	$3.155
Median rent	$1,399
Median household income	$59,828
Households with broadband internet	82.4%
Average travel time to work	24.3 min.
Closest public airport (BNA)	26 min.
Closest major airport (BNA)	26 min.
Best Local Weather Forecast:	News Channel 5 and News 4 Nashville

Some of Our Favorite Things to Do in and Around Nashville

• The Parthenon is a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Built in 1897, this Parthenon has stood the test of time – just like the original one!
• The Hermitage was President Andrew Jackson’s home in Tennessee. This plantation and mansion is a must-see for history buffs.
• Fort Negley is one of the only ones of its kind erected during the Civil War. After capturing Nashville, Union troops built this stone fortification as a forward base for incursions into the South.
• A historic district in downtown Nashville, Music Row is home to radio stations, recording studios, and record label headquarters. Many offer tours, such as the historic Columbia and RCA studios.
• National Museum of African American Music seeks to preserve and celebrate music created, inspired, and influenced by African Americans. Explore the curated collections and interactive technology and walk through America’s history as seen through musical heroes of past and present.
• Station Inn is one of the original bluegrass concert venues.
• Ryman Auditorium is the former home of the Grand Ole Opry – the most famous country music stage in North America.
• Calling the Schermerhorn Symphony Center its home, the Nashville Symphony brings music from across the globe to Music City USA. The symphony has  won multiple Grammys, and seeing a performance here is likely to leave you in awe.
• Located in Germantown, the Tennessee State Museum and Archives showcases the Volunteer State’s numerous historic highlights, from Civil War archives to the civil rights movement and more.
• If you love country music, checking out the Country Music Hall of Fame in the heart of Nashville should be on your bucket list.
• Walk through every era of music history at the Musician’s Hall of Fame and Museum. . From explorations of American music culture to music studio experiences, you can truly get up close and personal with the instruments and people who shaped music history.
• The Lane Motor Museum contains the largest collection of European motorcycles and cars in the United States. It’s a must for auto enthusiasts!
• From giraffes to Bengal tigers, the Nashville Zoo brings a bit of the animal kingdom from around the world to Tennessee.
• Have you ever been to an art museum tucked away in a botanical garden? Cheekwood Estate and Gardens is an essential stop for art and nature lovers alike.
• Visit the state’s World War II memorial at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park,  an urban state park right in front of the State Capitol.
• Held in September every year, the Tennessee State Fair brings the Volunteer State’s best to the State Fairgrounds.
• Printers Alley is the center of Nashville’s once substantial printing industry. The Tennessean and Nashville Banner – two of the city’s largest newspapers – called this area home, and dozens of printing presses and distributors took up shop here. Now home to nightclubs and music halls, Nashville’s liveliest entertainment district has hosted performers  like Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Jimi Hendrix.
• With more than 444 miles of recreational road, the Natchez Trace  follows the travel corridor Native Americans originally developed. European settlers later took the same route, realizing its efficiency and being in awe of its beauty. Today, you can hike, bike, and camp along this route, which  encompasses more than 10,000 years of history.
• Nashville’s food scene is also worthy of your attention, whether it’s date night or an after-concert event. Some of our recommendations include Sean Brock’s, Husk, Audrey, Joyland as well as City House (recent Beard Award winner), Rolf and Daughters, and Folk.

Nashville International Airport

Nashville International Airport (BNA) is a public and military airport. It’s the primary airport for the Southeastern section of Tennessee. It hosts more than 20 airlines and averages 585 daily flights in and out of the city.

Opened in 1937, the airport’s original name was Berry Field. Today, the airport’s Berry Field Air National Guard Base is home to the 118th Airlift Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard headquarters.

These days, BNA is undergoing major renovations as more airlines make Nashville a hub. The airport also offers international flights to London, Cancun, and a handful of Caribbean destinations.

A (Not So) Brief History of Nashville

Mississippian Native American tribes once called Nashville and the surrounding areas home. Shawnee, Chickasaw, and Cherokee moved into the area and began fur trading with French travelers in the early 1700s.

By the mid-19th century, these tribes were forced to leave the area, prompting the Trail of Tears to run through Nashville between 1830 and 1850. Today, the city is home to many historical sites that commemorate those who passed and look back at the area’s involvement in The Trail of Tears.

Manufacturing and Trading

Nashville has long thrived as a manufacturing and trade depot, thanks to its location on the Cumberland River. As railroad tracks started to criss-cross the East Coast, Nashville stood out as the perfect location to connect cities for trade.

American chestnut trees made up almost 25 percent of the forest in the state. This rot-resistant wood built homes and fences and was traded to surrounding areas as the land was cleared for farming. 

Civil War

In February 1862, Nashville became the first Union-occupied Confederate state capital during the Civil War. More than two years later, the Battle of Nashville again put the city in the spotlight and effectively ended both the Army of Tennessee and large-scale fighting during the Civil War.

Almost all of south and west Nashville were part of the battle site, and communities like Green Hills, Oak Hill, and Lipscomb are built on top of the battlefield. Although the area isn’t an official historic site, scattered memorials throughout the area commemorate its importance in U.S. history.

Post-Civil War

The newly nicknamed “Athens of the South” grew and expanded rapidly in the postwar era, with many higher education institutions opening throughout the city. Universities like Belmont, Lipscomb, Vanderbilt, Tennessee State University, Fisk, Nossi College of Art, American Baptist College, Aquinas College, Meharry Medical College, Nashville State Technical Institute, and more have called Nashville home.

Civil rights icon and late U.S. Representative John Lewis attended Nashville’s American Baptist College at 17. Lewis credited the city with igniting his passion for the movement, for activism, and for causing good trouble. Lewis believed if he hadn’t attended American Baptist College, he might not have gone on to change the course of American history for African Americans.

Music City USA

Nashville’s musical roots were first planted by Davy Crocket, who arrived in town in the 18th century. He was dubbed the “first celebrity of the city,” as he brought colorful stories and fiddle tunes that inspired others to celebrate Nashville in song.

In the 1920s, radio broadcasts like the Grand Ole Opry further established Nashville’s spot on the map. As Nashville continued to grow, musicians  like Dolly Parton, the Allman Brothers, Bobby Hebb, Marion James, Del Wood, Hank Williams, and Kitty Wells began calling the city home. Because it’s about a day’s drive the rest of the country, recording studios and touring companies began leveraging Nashville as their home bases or considering the city an important stopover.

Today, Nashville is the country music capital of the world, and many local recording studios cater to the genre. Music Row offers tourists some of the best music attractions in North America, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Opry House, and the International Country Music Fan Fair.

Many modern musicians became famous due to incredible performances in Nashville, including Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Michael Bublé, and the Black Eyed Peas. From rock ‘n’ roll to Christian music and everything in between, Nashville brings out the best in musicians far and wide.

Modern Nashville

Nashville has seen explosive growth since the 1970s. The 90s saw an economic boom, updates to major landmarks, and brand new stadiums like Nissan Stadium (Tennessee Titans) and the Bridgestone Arena (Nashville Predators).

Despite experiencing massive flooding and damage to historic sites in 2010, Nashville has been identified as one of the top five regions of growth by the Wall Street Journal.  It continued to land on the country’s fastest-growing cities lists, creating an aspirational example for the 21st century. As of 2018, Nashville is Tennessee’s largest city, with over 1.9 million people calling it home.

No matter where you live in the Nashville area, Carolina Timberworks can work with you and the firm of your choice to design, engineer, fabricate, ship, and install the ideal timber frame addition for your property.